Daytona Beach official didn't record interviews after beating

LYDA LONGA, STAFF WRITER

Saturday

Oct 29, 2011 at 12:01 AMAug 15, 2012 at 1:28 PM

DAYTONA BEACH -- For days, city administrators said they were interviewing witnesses in the incident that got former building official Mark Criswell arrested and charged with aggravated battery on Main Street during Biketoberfest; Criswell's job status hinged on that query, which could have ended his career.

After Criswell resigned earlier this week though, The Daytona Beach News-Journal learned that city Human Resources Director Sally McCarroll questioned three people concerning Criswell's Oct. 15 episode at the Iron Gate bar, and none of the interviews was recorded or transcribed.

A city spokeswoman said via email that McCarroll apparently saw no need to keep a record of the interviews.

"She (McCarroll) was in the room with all of the equipment ready to go, but the people she interviewed didn't offer any new information that wasn't already in the police report," said spokeswoman Susan Cerbone. "So she never recorded their brief discussions or took notes."

The three individuals McCarroll interviewed were police officers who responded to the bar the morning of the altercation. Cerbone said McCarroll had scheduled an interview with bar employee Stephen Colwell but Colwell never showed.

It's not clear why McCarroll wanted to interview police officers whose statements were already written in a police report. She hung up on a reporter who telephoned her earlier this week for a comment on this case.

Colwell, meanwhile, was the person who flagged down police the morning of the beating. He said Friday he witnessed the episode.

The issue of the city's internal investigation actually became moot after Criswell resigned; the newspaper made a public records request for the interviews.

Criswell was arrested the morning of Oct. 15 after police said he beat David Summers. The 46-year-old Summers is a marketing representative for a liquor company, and he was at the Iron Gate sponsoring a mobile stage for Biketoberfest. According to the arrest report, a drunken Criswell ordered Summers to lower the music volume at the bar. Summers did so, but then he asked Criswell if he was drunk, the report shows.

Criswell responded with an insult, and according to police, a beating that left Summers with a broken nose, a closed, swollen eye and a bloody cut on his head.

The suspect's attorney said Criswell acted in self-defense; but police Chief Mike Chitwood said last week that based on witness statements, there was no provocation on Summers' part.

In addition, Colwell, who was unable to speak with McCarroll, also said Summers did not provoke Criswell.

"Summers doesn't have a hurtful bone in his body," Colwell said. "This guy (Criswell) was trashed, he was gone to the wind."

Colwell said he and other employees at the Iron Gate had to repeatedly tell Criswell to put away his pocketknife.

When police arrived at the bar, they said Criswell resisted, refusing to put his hands behind his back to be handcuffed. One of the officers had to push Criswell up against an ATM so he and another policeman could place handcuffs on him.

In 1992 Criswell -- then 33 years old -- spent a few hours in the county jail after New Smyrna Beach police said he punched a 69-year-old man in the mouth. The attack left the man with a split lip and 15 to 20 stitches, an arrest report shows.

The incident was sparked by a road rage episode that included an exchange of hand gestures between Criswell and Robert Boyle and then a bottle of soda hurled at Boyle's car by Criswell, police said.

When Boyle got out of his car to ask Criswell what the problem was, police said Criswell struck the older man. Court records show Criswell was sent to pretrial intervention for the incident.

Two years later in 1994 in Casselberry, Criswell's wife called Casselberry police after she and Criswell had a marital spat, an incident report shows. The wife told officers that Criswell had pushed her into a wall and held her up against it, the report says. Police also said he threw a chair against a window, shattering it.

READ: Criswell's resignation letter (PDF)-----

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